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The complexity of business environments often causes organizations to produce several inconsistent views of the same business process (BP), leading to fragmentation. BP view integration attempts to produce an integrated view from different views of the same model, facilitating the management of BP models.

To study the trends of BP view integration, the authors conduct an extensive and systematic literature review to summarize findings since the 1970s. With a starting corpus of 918 documents, this survey draws up a systematic inventory of solutions used in academia and industry. By narrowing it down to 71 articles, the authors discuss in-depth 17 BP integration techniques papers, classifying each solution according to 9 criteria.

The authors' study shows that most view-integration methods (11) utilize annotation-based matching, based on formal merging rules. While most solutions are formalized, only approximately half are validated with a real-world use case scenario. View integration can be applied to areas other than database schema integration and BP view integration.

By summarizing existing knowledge up to June 2021, the authors explore possible future research directions. The authors highlight the application of view integration to the blockchain research area, where stakeholders can have different views on the same blockchain. The authors expect that this study contributes to interdisciplinary research across view integration, namely to the context of blockchain.

This survey serves to pave the way for future trends, where the authors highlight the application of view integration to blockchain research.

The use of capability maturity model integration (CMMI) on its own can be problematic for the organisation because it does not provide a roadmap to implementation or identification of key process improvement areas, but instead only provides the goals for each level of implementation. Addition of another framework such as control objectives for information and related technology (CoBIT) can add the required operational data, but poses some unique challenges for implementation. However, the integration of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), CoBIT, and ISO/IEC 22007 provides a roadmap to the integration of CMMI and CoBIT. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this co‐implementation and integration of the two frameworks, as well as the underlying framework of a new proposed integration model.

A literature review approach is used to address issues that have evolved from the empirical literature regarding the integration of CMMI and ITIL with other standards and determining whether this approach can be applied to the integration of CMMI and CoBIT as well. This literature review also provides insight into roadblocks to the implementation and structural improvements for CMMI.

The literature review demonstrated that the integration of CMMI and CoBIT could potentially be performed using the same techniques used in integrating ITIL and CoBIT, which provides a valuable guideline for further research into this area. However, further work will be required in order to determine the specifics of integration.

The paper adds to the existing literature by discussing the integration of CMMI and CoBIT and examining how these two frameworks can work together in order to create the basis for a new integration model.

This study identifies and synthesizes existing literature on the integration of diabetic and dental services and explores a service integration model for optimising diabetic patient health outcomes and improving healthcare systems in low and middle-income countries.

Peer-reviewed literature that analysed the integration of health services regarding dental and medical services were reviewed. The articles were identified using the Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, CINAHL Complete, Google Scholar and MEDLINE databases and screened using the PRISMA guidelines.

A total of 40 full-text articles were examined for eligibility out of which 26 were selected for analysis. Diabetes was shown to contribute significantly to the global disease burden and this is also reflected in most low and middle-income countries. It is found that the integration of medical and dental services could help alleviate this burden. Hence, locally adapted Rainbow-Modified Integrated Care model is proposed to fill this integration gap.

The integration of dental and medical services has been proven to be useful in improving diabetic patient outcomes. Hence, the need to facilitate cross-professional collaboration between dentists and physicians cannot be overemphasised and this can be extended and locally adapted by different health systems across the world.

The integration of dental and diabetic services using models such as the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care is recommended to optimise health outcomes of diabetic patients and enhancing service delivery, especially in resource-poor healthcare systems.

Extant research on supply chain integration defines integration in different ways, and mainly discusses a limited number of integration elements. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual integration model which consists of comprehensive elements that are important to academic research and industrial practices.

Key literature survey with drawing threads of existing practices together for developing a systematic referential model and then verify the model with a real case.

Developed a model consisting of integration elements residing at the strategic, managerial, operational, and fundamental levels (bottom line). Based on the benefit alignment, the total integration requires supply chain partners to integrate resource flows (material, information, knowledge, and finance), processes and organization, planning and control activities and strategy.

The research is based on secondary data and a case study illustration. Further empirical research is required.

The normative model can guide managers to integrate resources and activities in their efforts for an effective supply chain management. It supplements the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model developed by the Supply Chain Council with an interface description, which may guide the development of information systems for supply chain integration.

The comprehensive model provides a more inclusive and integrated perspective of supply chain integration. It is expected that the consensus of supply chain integration could be achievable based on this model. The conceptual framework will assist the researchers to determine integration variables of supply chain.

This study explores the integration of smallholder farmers into the export market in Vietnam, an emerging economy. By introducing a prospective framework, we seek to provide insight into factors that influence this integration process.

This study examines the expected growth and entry of Vietnamese smallholder farmers into high-value export markets. We collected information from 200 independent farmers as well as from five local extension workers, who provided information on 50 farmers.

The study reveals that the adoption of new business models is more influential than the variables traditionally included in models of export-market integration in predicting expected growth and entry into high-value export markets. In addition, the results highlight divergent views between farmers and extension workers regarding the role of collectors, with farmers perceiving collectors as potential partners, while extension workers see them as impediments to growth.

The prospective model presented in this study highlights the importance of policy interventions aimed at promoting new business models and addressing infrastructure and capital constraints for the sustainable transformation of agricultural sectors in emerging markets.

This is one of the first articles to apply a prospective approach to export-market integration and demonstrate its efficacy through an empirical study. The suggested prospective approach could facilitate the design of policies aimed at export-market integration within the context of dynamic, emerging markets.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Researchers recommend a reorganization of the medical profession into larger groups with a multispecialty mix. We analyze whether there is evidence for the superiority of these models and if this organizational transformation is underway.

We summarize the evidence on scale and scope economies in physician group practice, and then review the trends in physician group size and specialty mix to conduct survivorship tests of the most efficient models.

The distribution of physician groups exhibits two interesting tails. In the lower tail, a large percentage of physicians continue to practice in small, physician-owned practices. In the upper tail, there is a small but rapidly growing percentage of large groups that have been organized primarily by non-physician owners.

While our analysis includes no original data, it does collate all known surveys of physician practice characteristics and group practice formation to provide a consistent picture of physician organization.

Our review suggests that scale and scope economies in physician practice are limited. This may explain why most physicians have retained their small practices.

Larger, multispecialty groups have been primarily organized by non-physician owners in vertically integrated arrangements. There is little evidence supporting the efficiencies of such models and some concern they may pose anticompetitive threats.

This is the first comprehensive review of the scale and scope economies of physician practice in nearly two decades. The research results do not appear to have changed much; nor has much changed in physician practice organization.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to predict the antecedents of the integration level among marketing, logistics and production, considering the influence of formal and informal factors that generate integration and the existence of conflicts.

A survey of 179 participants from all regions of Brazil was conducted. A parsimonious model including four dimensions and 34 variables was developed through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The field data corroborate studies dealing with the impact of various formal and informal integration factors on the cross-functional integration level as a construct. Furthermore, this paper concludes that the level of cross-functional can be defined as: the intensity of the relationship among internal functions which can be measured by the mutual existence of formal and informal factors and the absence of manifest conflicts.

The findings of this paper cannot be generalized because of the convenience sampling. Future research could apply a probabilistic sampling and try to explore other geographical settings in both national and international contexts.

The proposed model can generate important information for managers by pointing out variables that can predict the integration level and their impacts on the organizational performance. The paper concludes with examples about how the model could be useful in several practical situations.

This paper proposes a model with reasonable accuracy to predict the integration level and overcomes prior research limitations with respect to models to predict the antecedents of the integration level, particularly the role of conflicts in the integration processes.

The purpose of this paper is to present a model for curricular integration of information literacy for undergraduate programs in higher education.

Data are drawn from individual interviews at three universities in Australia and curricular integration working experience at a New Zealand university. Sociocultural theories are adopted in the research process and in the development of the model.

Key characteristics of the curriculum integration of information literacy were identified and an information literacy integration model was developed. The S²J² key behaviours for campus‐wide multiple‐partner collaboration in information literacy integration were also identified.

The model was developed without including the employer needs. Through the process of further research, the point of view of the employer on how to provide information literacy education needs to be explored in order to strengthen the model in curricular design.

The information literacy integration model was developed based on practical experience in higher education and has been applied in different undergraduate curricular programs. The model could be used or adapted by both librarians and academics when they integrate information literacy into an undergraduate curriculum from a lower level to a higher level.

The information literacy integration model was developed based on recent PhD research. The model integrates curriculum, pedagogy and learning theories, information literacy theories, information literacy guidelines, people and collaboration together. The model provides a framework of how information literacy can be integrated into multiple courses across an undergraduate academic degree in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated approach to process integration, automation, and optimization through enhanced business process models.

The approach is based on a framework of process integration for functional applications, automation for business workflows, and additional functionalities for process optimization. The proposed approach is illustrated using enhanced process models over business integration, automation, and optimization with data elements, structures, and organizational elements. The standard sales order process cycle, quotation approval process, and production order cycle are chosen for illustrating process integration, automation, and optimization, respectively.

The proposed approach combines applications and workflows using integrated process/data models and forms a foundation for business process optimization. It is shown that the integrated approach can improve existing business processes in enterprise resource planning (ERP), beyond business process re‐engineering (BPR) principles, once enhanced business process models are implemented. This approach eliminates need for a hierarchical representation of business processes and highlights the flexibility and visibility of business process implementation in ERP system environment.

Although process integration, automation, and optimization are illustrated using selected business process examples, it requires generalization of these enhancements over entire business blueprint of ERP system. Thus, one key limitation of this research is that it is not generalized for the entire business blueprint of ERP. This also requires changes to data structures beyond current relational data in many ERP systems.

This research provides an integrated approach to business process modeling beyond traditional functional and workflow applications by eliminating hierarchical nature of process and data elements.